zebra
Senior Member
- Messages
- 498
I'd been wanting a cheap guitar with a proper Floyd for a while - to see whether or not it's something I'd actually want to have/use. Saw this old Ibanez in a shop, and saw an opportunity. It looked lonely and unloved, so I decided to take it home (always loved this paint job). I still have to finish the wiring and trem set-up, but I wanted to go ahead and get this posted.
Ibanez RB220 B, Lipstick Red (1998-99)
https://imgur.com/a/duZAtHg
I've never really liked the over-extended horns of the RG body shape, so I trimmed them right off. (The exposed bare wood doesn't look very great, but that wasn't the point.)
The trem was a garbage single-locking system, that I replaced with a proper dual-locking system from GFS. Pickups are a Retrotron and a VEH from GFS.
Originally, I was going to re-shape the headstock, and fashion it in to a 4x2 design - but messed it up so badly, I had to replace the neck entirely. I found the replacement on eBay, from a Chinese company that makes AANC knock-offs. It's pretty low quality, but it was cheap, and AANC replacement necks are very hard to come by. I scalloped the top six frets, to see if that's something I'd like. (Didn't do a pretty job of it, but that wasn't the point.)
The finish was pretty scratched up. Not in a pleasant "antiqued" way that you see with nitro finishes, but in an unpleasant way that you see with poly finishes. Thanks to Frank (fdisalvo) for sharing tips on his method of refinishing with me (wet sanding 1,000, then 2,000, then polishing with Meguiar's Compound, then Polish using pads, chucked into a rotary tool). :headbang:
I got the "faux masked binding" effect by wrapping sand paper around a dowel and gently hitting all the corners. It think it looks interesting - makes the contours pop more. There were layers of clear coat beneath the paint, so it doesn't have a bare-wood look to it.
Fun project - I'll use it for a couple of years, beat the snot out of it, and if I like Floyds, I'll replace it the whole thing with something better. Otherwise, we'll just part ways.
Ibanez RB220 B, Lipstick Red (1998-99)
https://imgur.com/a/duZAtHg
I've never really liked the over-extended horns of the RG body shape, so I trimmed them right off. (The exposed bare wood doesn't look very great, but that wasn't the point.)
The trem was a garbage single-locking system, that I replaced with a proper dual-locking system from GFS. Pickups are a Retrotron and a VEH from GFS.
Originally, I was going to re-shape the headstock, and fashion it in to a 4x2 design - but messed it up so badly, I had to replace the neck entirely. I found the replacement on eBay, from a Chinese company that makes AANC knock-offs. It's pretty low quality, but it was cheap, and AANC replacement necks are very hard to come by. I scalloped the top six frets, to see if that's something I'd like. (Didn't do a pretty job of it, but that wasn't the point.)
The finish was pretty scratched up. Not in a pleasant "antiqued" way that you see with nitro finishes, but in an unpleasant way that you see with poly finishes. Thanks to Frank (fdisalvo) for sharing tips on his method of refinishing with me (wet sanding 1,000, then 2,000, then polishing with Meguiar's Compound, then Polish using pads, chucked into a rotary tool). :headbang:
I got the "faux masked binding" effect by wrapping sand paper around a dowel and gently hitting all the corners. It think it looks interesting - makes the contours pop more. There were layers of clear coat beneath the paint, so it doesn't have a bare-wood look to it.
Fun project - I'll use it for a couple of years, beat the snot out of it, and if I like Floyds, I'll replace it the whole thing with something better. Otherwise, we'll just part ways.
